Coal for Christmas
by KnightNight7203
Summary: "Haven't you ever heard of Santa Claus?" In which the boys decide to behave like wild animals just before the holidays and a certain reporter and her cowboy are determined to find out why.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back with a Christmas story! You'll have to be the judge, but I'm pretty sure it's both funny and happy for once . . . ? So hopefully it helps get everyone in the holiday spirit! :)**

**Standard disclaimers apply. I own a pretty wicked King of New York shirt and an overpriced stuffed Oswald from Disneyland. That's about it. ;)**

* * *

Katherine steps through the door of the lodging house late one December night and shivers. The thin walls are blocking out the chilling wind and thick snow swirling outside — barely — but beyond that, there's not much relief from the harsh New York winter. The heat must be broken again — that, or no one could afford to replenish the dwindling coal pile. Still, she's glad to be off the street.

Even if the inhabitants are shrieking and running in circles like madmen.

They stop when they notice her for a moment, frozen in place for a heartbeat, then evidently decide she's not worth their attention and go back to chasing each other back and forth across the floor.

"Is Jack here somewhere?" she yells over the noise, leaping back as Romeo trips over Mush's foot and goes sprawling in front of the stairs. Les runs straight into his legs and ends up landing on top of him, and Race screeches to a halt just behind the pileup, barely managing to stay on his feet.

"Upstairs," Davey and Crutchie call in unison from a table in the corner. Crutchie is watching the fray with a bemused smile on his face, and Davey has his nose buried in a book and hasn't even bothered to look up.

"Smart bastard," Specs growls from the couch, his fingers ever so subtly stuffed in his ears. Albert aims a kick at his knee, and he swears loudly and kicks him back without removing his hands.

Katherine steps daintily over Romeo, holding her skirt up so it doesn't drag across him, and starts to make her way up the stairs. "Thanks, boys," she says, even though she's not sure what for. "I'll be down in a bit."

"Why don't you stay down and play with us now?" Les asks, propped up on one elbow, his face arranged in the saddest, most pleading expression in his arsenal.

"Yeah," Romeo says, still laying flat on his back. "We're your friends too, not just Jack. You should hang out with us."

Katherine sits down a few steps up from the bottom and extends her hand to Romeo, helping him into a sitting position. "Of course you're my friends too. Don't ever doubt that. Jack's just–"

"More than a friend," Smalls says in a sing-song voice. She makes a face at Katherine and then darts away, followed closely by Sniper. Katherine doesn't know which would shut them up faster — to agree with or refute this statement. She figures it will be better to let them get bored with the topic on their own, and starts to climb again.

"_More_ than friends?" Romeo says skeptically, raising his eyebrow. She stops halfway up the stairs, sighing. "I thought friends was the best you could get. Like us–" he gestures to the other newsboys, most of whom are either tugging at each others hair or engaged in halfhearted fistfights. "We're already closer than family. What the hell is _more_ than friends?"

"It means sleepin' together," Race smirks, and Katherine goes violently red.

"Race! It most certainly does _not–"_ she says indignantly, even as Crutchie yells from the corner, "Don't act like friendship ain't important, Race!" Race raises his hands defensively, though who he's surrendering to, she's not entirely sure. She might hit him anyway.

"Alright! Who took it?" Albert bellows suddenly. Reappearing from behind the couch, Smalls thrusts her hand above her head. There is single coin clutched between her fingers, and the boys take off after her immediately. In the chaos that follows, Specs loses his glasses, Davey's book is snatched out from under his nose by Bunsen, Elmer knocks over a candle and spends the next thirty seconds frantically trying to extinguish the flames lapping at his sleeve, and Katherine slips upstairs.

* * *

"What the _hell_ is going on down there?" she demands in a high voice, leaning against the door to the boys' room that she slammed behind her. The room's only other current occupant is slumped in a chair in the corner, a rough pencil sketch resting on the windowsill in front of him. She meets his eyes briefly before he looks away and immediately feels sorry for him. He looks exhausted.

Jack's muffled voice emits from beneath his hands, where his face is now buried. "I literally got no clue. They've been like this all week. This is worse than the time they went around stealin' the pigs to try to improve the headlines."

"Excuse me?"

He shakes his head, clearly not willing to elaborate on that one. "They've gone nuts. Maybe it's somethin' in the water."

"And I thought it was crazy at _work_ today," Katherine says. "I came here to get away."

Jack snorts, shaking his head. "You clearly came to the wrong place. I'm coming home with you."

She laughs weakly. "I don't think so; not tonight. I'm pretty sure Race is just waiting for that so he can start making even worse jokes."

"Damn." Jack scowls. "Did he say something– I'll kill him. And then come hide at your place."

"They sure are in in rare form today," she admits, ruffling his hair soothingly. "Making lewd comments, tripping each other, punching, stealing . . ."

"And," Jack says, shoving his half-finished drawing even further to the side and standing up like this is the last straw, "somebody stole my new colored pencils."

"Uh-oh," Katherine smirks, moving out of his way as he strides purposefully toward the door. "Now they're in for it."

* * *

"Alright. Alright." Jack's voice isn't that loud, but somehow it carries above the chaos. In only a few seconds, the boys quiet, eyeing him uncertainly. "What do you idiots think you're doin' here, exactly?"

Bunsen puffs himself up importantly, raising an eyebrow. "Well, what does it look like we're doin', Jack?"

"Tryin' to scare Ace away? Tryin' to scare _me_ away? Let me tell you, it's working damn well."

"Don't be an idiot," Romeo scoffs. "It ain't exactly hard to figure out. We're _misbehaving._"

Jack rolls his eyes at Katherine. "Huh?"

"Mis-be-ha-ving. That's a Davey word. Means bein' bad."

Davey shakes his head, coughing an annoyed snort from his spot well removed from the drama. "I had nothing to do with this, I swear."

Just when Jack looks like he's about to start tearing his hair out in frustration, Les steps forward. "You look confused, Jack."

"I'm very confused. Are you tryin' to get us kicked out of the lodging house? Elmer, the rug's on fire."

Elmer hurriedly stomps out the flames, but Les just rolls his eyes. "Come on, Jack! We're tryin' to _save_ all of you!"

"And how would that be, exactly?" Katherine asks.

He eyes her patronizingly, hands on his hips, and she sees Davey knock his head against the table in the background. "Haven't you ever heard of Santa Claus?"

* * *

**This is probably going to be two or three chapters, so more to follow. Remember, reviews are confidence boosters! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think! And if you see any mistakes, please let me know and I will fix them immediately! **

**PS Sorry if the middle bit seems a tad rushed - I was struggling a little transition-wise.**

**Much love,  
KnightNight**


	2. Chapter 2

**Seems like everyone has like this so far, so here's chapter 2. Thanks so much for reading! Special shoutout to Connie Rose and Izzy, the lovely guest reviewer, who figured out the plot already. I hope it wasn't ****_too_**** obvious for you :)**

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

* * *

Santa Claus. They're acting like wild animals because of Santa Claus.

Jack snorts, looking skeptically around at the newsies as if to try to gain some sort of insight from their expressions. They stare back at him, straight-faced. "You've gotta be kidding me. You do realize he don't eat kids or nothin,' right? He leaves 'em stuff. Like presents."

"Yeah," Romeo agrees easily. "Supposed to be nice stuff, too, like candy or toys or whatever. Only, here's the kicker — if you're bad, he leaves you coal. And you gotta admit, Jack — we need coal. Real bad. Worse than we need toys, or candy, or even food."

Understanding dawning along with a smile on her face, Katherine shakes her head slowly. "Yes, but boys, it doesn't work quite like that. If you're good, you get whatever you want, even if that's coal. You don't have to tear down New York to stay warm!"

It's Race's turn to snort, his face contorting in a scowl. "Maybe that's how it works if you're filthy rich, _Plumber_," he says, denying her her nickname now that they're on opposing sides. "But if you got nothin' already like us? You get nothin' for Christmas, either. We've been good all the other years, haven't we, boys? Helpin' each other out, not stealin' nothing . . . What did we get then?"

The boys let out quiet murmurs of "nothing," looking at the ground.

"We've tried all that, Plums," Romeo tells her gently. "This is our last shot."

"Boys–" she says slowly, quietly, but she doesn't really know what to say. When she was their age, there were always piles of gifts stacked to heights that nearly rivaled her own under her family's lavishly decorated tree. That, and enough coal stockpiled to heat the entire Pulitzer home. It kills her to admit it, but she's never thought about what Christmas must be like for the newsboys.

"It's okay, Plums," Race says, looking a little guilty for snapping at her earlier. "It ain't your fault. We'se just a little uncomfortable – didn't have much to eat last night, see. Kinda sets your nerves on end, ya know?"

She cringes, because she really doesn't.

"And you gotta admit, it is real cold in here, too," Les murmurs in a soft voice. He looks up at her, a calculating glint in his eyes. "I'm shivering just standing here. Can I wear your scarf?" Katherine gives him a sad little smile and nods, but Davey pales in the background.

"Katherine, don't–" he begins, but it's too late – Katherine unwinds her scarf and hands it to Les. He and Albert promptly seize it and start tearing it into pieces little pieces, scattering them on the newsboys throughout the room.

"Now everyone can be warm," Les says with a devious smile. He looks around at the other boys to see if they're watching; when he finds they are, he starts to laugh. Mush takes that opportunity to shove an indignant Specs backwards off the the couch, behind which they hear a huge crash, and Race takes off down the hall with Romeo thrown over his shoulder, hollering. Jack lets out an angry growl of frustration, grabbing Katherine's hand and dragging her toward the door.

"We're goin' for a walk," he says, glaring at the boys still in the room. Specs gazes at them morosely with his glasses hanging lopsided over one ear, and Albert shrugs innocently as if he wasn't just tying Sniper's shoelaces together. "It ain't like it's any colder out there, but it sure is quieter. An' if you know what's good for ya, don't you dare try to follow us."

* * *

They find themselves stopping at a snow-covered bench a few blocks away. Jack hastily brushes the snow away even though he doesn't have gloves on, but when Katherine takes off her own mittens and offers them to him, he shakes his head stubbornly.

"I ain't takin' your gloves," he says firmly. "Especially not after your scarf – sorry about that, by the way. I don't know why they think–"

"It's fine," she says, rolling her eyes. "Didn't like it much anyway – it was from my father. And anyway – they need it more than I do," she adds in a whisper.

"Yeah, but you wore it all the time," Jack argues. He shakes his head. "Don't know why Les doesn't just go home. I'm sure it's nice and warm there."

Katherine laughs, even though Jack's tone isn't particularly amusing. "He's not doing it for warmth, he's doing it for attention," she says, and Jack's scowl deepens. She looks at him sideways, smiling. "He probably thinks he's being like you."

"Excuse me?"

"You know. Leading the boys, rallying for better conditions. It's their own little strike against Santa Claus, or something like that."

Jack's expression softens, and she lets him nestle his hands in her own. Maybe he won't take her gloves, but they can still warm him up all the same. "You think so?"

"I'd bet on it," she says confidently.

He lets out a huge sigh, shaking his head. "What am I gonna do with them?" he whispers, avoiding her eyes. "It ain't like I can just buy enough coal to – they don't pay me that much, Ace. An' food prices are goin' up, and every time I set some money aside somebody needs new shoes, or medicine for a cough, an' that can't wait till Christmas . . ."

"You know you're an idiot, Jack Kelly?" she asks affectionately. He snorts, and she ducks down so her eyes are level with his. "Don't even worry about that. I'll take care of it."

But instead of smiling gratefully, he shakes his head. "Your house ain't that warm either, Ace, an' I know you haven't been able to afford coffee for weeks–"

"Don't worry about that, either!" she laughs, bumping his shoulder with hers. "It's not like my father's going to let me starve, however much he may be frustrated with me right now. And if you really think I'm just going to sit at home and act like nothing's wrong when I can imagine how disappointed those boys' faces will look on Christmas morning . . ."

"You're an angel, Ace," Jack mutters thickly, his eyes shining in the light from the street lamp. She'd hug him if she wasn't afraid of letting go of his hands for fear he'll freeze.

She's starting to shiver and Jack's lips are already turning blue, so she stands, making the executive decision that it's time to go. "Are you going back there?" she asks him, thinking she already knows the answer.

"Nah," he says, shaking his head. "Let Davey deal with them – it's his damn kid brother's fault anyway, and it's not like they're actin' like leavin' any time soon." He falls silent, looking at her nervously. "I mean – if that's okay with you?"

"I bet the shower's warm, even if the furnace isn't," she tells him. But she's sure that his smile as his face lights up is even warmer than either.

* * *

**Reviews are confidence boosters. And would make a nice Christmas present, too :)**

**Much love,  
KnightNight**


	3. Chapter 3

**Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all are having a fabulous holiday!**

**I wanted to have this up earlier, but I got caught up in finishing last minute gifts and being forced to socialize with relatives. (I also finished a huge animation project and got accepted into my #1 college, so I haven't been entirely unproductive . . .) But anyway, please enjoy this last (late) chapter, and thank you all for reading and reviewing!**

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

* * *

"Romeo, if you knock down all of the ornaments, you're only hurting yourself. No one - Santa, I mean - is really going to care."

The newsboy frowns out at Katherine from between the branches of the thick pine where he's wedged himself, mulling it over. Evidently deciding she has a point, he carefully maneuvers down around the little paper decorations the boys had cut from Jack's art supplies earlier in the day. He jumps to his feet in front of her and brushes the needles off his clothes, smiling up at her a little guiltily.

"It really is a nice tree, Plums. Thanks again."

"You're not supposed to surrender," Les mutters from under the table in the corner as she ruffles Romeo's hair. He shrugs, looking to her for support — she defends him readily.

"Haven't you boys caused enough trouble, Les? Some of us actually want to enjoy Christmas."

Katherine knows the boys mean well, but the chaos has gone on long enough. She'd been convinced they were done with their little scheme when Mush twisted his ankle hanging from the fire escape outside one of the factory girls' windows - luckily, she helped him back to the lodging house rather than leaving him in an alley. And though that hadn't ended the trouble, she had been sure it would stop when Albert was almost arrested performing a magic trick in Central Park - the vendor didn't appreciate when his apples mysteriously "disappeared." They had been relatively quiet since dinner several nights before when Jack made them wash dishes until their hands were raw to pay for the food they had tried to sneak from the deli. But now that it's finally Christmas Eve, it seems any lesson they've learned has been forgotten.

"We can't stop till it pays off, Plums!" Les says, shaking his head. "We've made it this far! If we give up now, Santa'll think we ain't serious!"

"And damn, are we serious," Race mutters, even as Davey sends a kick at Les from his chair beside the table. He has a book in front of him again, despite the fact that it's Christmas Eve and the school is closed for a week. If Katherine didn't know any better, she'd say it's simply there to deter the boys from interacting with him — it certainly doesn't seem as though he's actually read any further these past few days. He's not even bothering to pretend to read now — he just sighs and lets his face fall forward onto the pages.

"I wouldn't have brought the tree if I knew it would encourage them," Katherine whispers to Jack, who's stretched out on the floor in front of a rather pitiful fire in the fireplace. He shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

"An' I wouldn't have let you bring the tree if I knew you were gonna drag it the whole way here yourself." He gives her a pointed look, and she smiles, ducking down to pick up an ornament that fell when Romeo emerged.

"Darcy helped me," she admits. "He says Merry Christmas, by the way. He didn't want to come in and risk being dismembered or something."

Jack chuckles, and she turns the ornament over in her hands. The shape of a folded newspaper has been cut from the paper, _The Sun_ etched across the top in thick, clumsy letters. If she squints, she can just make out the headline of her article scribbled beneath it. Tied around the top in a loop is a whole shoelace — she's sure that if she looked at the boys' feet, there'd be someone with unlaced boots in the room. Touched by how much effort they put into an ornament based on her article, she hangs it carefully back on the tree. They really do mean well.

Crawling out into the open, Les lets out a big yawn. "You ready to go, Davey? I wanna be in bed so Santa comes on time."

Davey checks the time, blinking in shock when he realizes how late it is. "He's right, you guys. Our parents will be waiting up for us." Snapping his book shut, he takes Les's hand and heads for the door. "See you tomorrow, guys. Katherine."

"Merry Christmas," Les adds with one final glance around the room at his comrades. In the moment before the doors close behind him, more cold air swirls into the room. The boys shiver, and Katherine pulls her jacket tighter.

"You should go too, Plums," Race tells her. At first she thinks it's part of their act, that he's trying to kick her out because he wants to start something. Then she registers the gentle tone of his voice and the concerned expression on his face, and realizes he just doesn't want her to be out in the weather. "It's gettin' cold out there."

"We're goin' to bed now anyway," Crutchie says quickly, pushing himself carefully to his feet. Katherine meets Jack's eyes.

"Walk me home?" she asks, resisting the urge to wink. He shrugs casually, ruffling a few boys' hair on his way past.

"Got nothin' better to do," he says, smiling as the boys scowl at him.

"You'd better be home before Santa gets to New York," Romeo says, poking at his chest. "You ain't screwing this up, Jack Kelly. Especially just for some girl."

"I love you too, boys," Katherine laughs, pulling on her gloves and stepping out into the snow, Jack on her heels.

She pulls the door quickly shut behind her, trying to keep in as much of the warmth as possible, and can just barely make out Crutchie ushering the younger boys upstairs in their absence.

"He's gonna make sure they stay in bed," Jack promises, threading his fingers through hers. They take a minute to smile at each other through the dark, then take off running down the sidewalk, slipping and sliding in the snow.

* * *

She's back and perched on the end of the sofa when the boys begin to trickle downstairs the next morning, led by Race and Mush and Albert and followed moments later by Crutchie and Specs, hair sticking out at strange angles and rubbing the sleep from their eyes. She can't help but feel that their expressions look too old for their faces as they obviously struggle not to get their hopes up.

Then they see the bright packages wrapped under the tree.

And all hell breaks loose.

This time, instead of shoving each other away or fighting over things, they're pulling each other forward and pressing boxes into the hands of the boys next to them. They tear into the gifts, unwrapping not only coal for the fire but also scarves, gloves, and the occasional blanket of their own. Soon there's paper all over the floor, caught on the tree branches, hanging in their hair.

By the time Jack finally makes his way downstairs with a drowsy-looking Romeo clinging to his back, there are hardly any presents left unopened. But Specs manages to find a few untouched packages for Romeo, who is blinking rapidly like he can't believe his eyes, to open. He pulls on a bright yellow hat immediately, his eyes shining.

"Where did these even–" he turns to Katherine "–did you–"

"They were here when I came a few minutes ago," she tells him, shrugging mysteriously. "It must have been Santa."

With the boys thoroughly distracted, Jack slips past them and drops onto the couch next to her. There are dark circles under his eyes – ones that probably match her own, honestly – but they're hardly noticeable compared to the smile on his face.

"Well fancy seeing you here, Ace," he murmurs, and she smiles, and then he's pulled her into a good-morning kiss that makes her want to be the first person he sees every morning from now until the end of time.

"They seem happy," she whispers when they break apart, both glancing around to see if anyone noticed the kiss. No one did.

He pulls her close, squeezing her tight. "Thank you, Ace. Thank you so much."

"It was worth it," she promises, resting her head on his shoulder. "Just seeing them happy, peaceful–"

"Hey! Jack!" Jo Jo shrieks suddenly, his high-pitched yell cutting through the clamour of the other boys' voices. "Henry stole my mittens!"

"It ain't me!" comes Henry's indignant reply only seconds later. "Albert's got 'em, look!"

And then the peace is gone as rapidly as it had descended, the boys yelling about what colors best bring out their eyes and why they're entitled to the thickest scarf – "that alley's the coldest, you have the warm air from the deli blowing on you in your spot" – and rolling around on the ground in desperate games of tug-of-war. Somehow Specs's glasses end up on top of the tree, Romeo scales Race and wraps his arms around his neck in a death grip, and Mush and Smalls begin an arm-wrestling match for a pink wool blanket. She's pretty sure the racket reaches Brooklyn, and at least one scarf gets torn in the struggle.

"I swear they're grateful," Jack mumbles sheepishly, glancing at Katherine nervously. She laughs.

"I should have known it was too good to last. Now they're going to think behaving like this will get them coal for Christmas every year."

* * *

**Reviews are confidence boosters, and would also make fabulous Christmas presents. ;) Happy holidays!**

**Much love,  
KnightNight**


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